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Police arrest 22 for alleged role in online scams

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(Reuters file photo)

The police have arrested 10 men and 12 women for their alleged role in online scams amounting to more than $220,000.

In a statement released on Friday (27 May), the police said those arrested over a three-day operation from Tuesday (24 May) to Thursday (26 May) were suspected of being involved in 56 such cases.

Most of the suspects are believed to be “money mules” who received and transferred illegal funds on behalf of criminal syndicates. The other suspects are believed to have posed as online sellers and did not deliver products to their buyers upon receiving payment.

All of the suspects are being investigated for cheating offences, which carry a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine, or both, or money laundering offences, which carry a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $500,000.

In February, the police said that online credit-for-sex, love scams and cheating involving e-commerce are among the top online crimes in Singapore in 2015, with a 46.5 per cent increase in reports lodged.

For cheating involving e-commerce, the number of cases increased to 2,173 last year from 1,665 cases the previous year.